Contents

Background

Facade

Completed in 1960, Chatham Green at 165 Park Row in New York City has an award winning design that was conceptualized by Kelly & Gruzen Architects. This modern 1960s architecture building has the undulating Italian-influenced was once at the forefront of American architecture.

The Association for Middle Income Housing built it in response to a New York City redevelopment of Lower Manhattan below Canal Street plan. The goal of this project was to create a new Civic Center in the Foley Square area. many civic building s were to be built in addition to three middle income housing edifices. In order to accomplish this, the last section of the Five Points Slum was razed. 31 buildings had to be destroyed.

The Five Points was a neighborhood in central lower area of the Manhattan borough that is now split between the Civic Center on the west and south and Chinatown on the east and north. This area was infamous for being a disease ridden, crime infested slum and existed for well over 70 years. There was a high population density, high rate of infant and child mortality, unemployment, prostitution and violent crime were prevalent. By late fall of 1962 all former area residents had been relocated and the area was cleared.

Despite a strict budget usually associated with public housing projects, Kelly & Gruzen gave the development a high degree of built-in luxury. For their investment, residents got several firsts in New York City housing.

Location

View

The Chatham Green complex is located at 165 Park Row, New York City, NY in the Lower East Side neighborhood of the Manhattan borough. The building, is three blocks east of the artistic high end Tribeca area, steps from South Street Seaport and adjacent to New York City's Chinatown. It is surrounding by trees, a fish pond, gardens and is just a short walk from City Hall, Wall Street, and other downtown landmarks. There are Over 60 nearby routes including the 4,5,6, M9, M15, M22 and M103.

The Lower East Side or LES is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It stretches West of the Bowery, is bordered on the north by Houston Street, the south by Canal Street and East Broadway. In 1915, its populations was 60% Jewish, establishments such as Katz’s Delicatessen and the Eldridge Street Synagogue recall the area’s Jewish heritage. It was also one of the most densely populated working class and immigrant settlement districts in Manhattan. [1]

In the early 2000s, it underwent a fast gentrification prompting The National Trust for Historic Preservation to place the neighborhood on their list of America's Most Endangered Places. With an array of trendy bars and lounges the Lower East Side also has a plenty of trendy boutiques, mom-and-pop shops, cozy cafes, and trendy dining establishments. Most buildings in LES are five-to-six story pre-war renovated walk ups or modern high-rise.

Construction

Bird's Eye View

Scarce information can be found relative to Chatham Green's construction process. Its construction was completed in 1960 and windows at each end of most apartments, allow cross ventilation and lots of light.The building was built with closed cell urethane insulation on its exterior walls. Polyurethane was developed and used by the military in the 1940s and applied to airplanes. It wasn't until the 1970s that it started to be used as foam insulation.

Routine maintenance of the building includes waterproofing and patching of reinforced concrete due to water infiltration. The building has Swedish designed windows which have a double thickness of glass with a Venetian blind between. The whole unit can be opened for ventilation and pivoted for cleaning. Units reduce noise levels and bring protection from the sun in the summer. Because of their high insulation value, the windows prevent heat loss in the winter months. Consequently, both heating and central air conditioning equipment are reduced.

In the plaza development, visual considerations were very important to the landscape architects: the strong pattern of the fish-scale paving, visible from above, or the illusion of the bottomless created by lining the shallow reflecting pool with black coal. Structural considerations made it necessary to maintain a differential of only one step. A playground, originally located south of the plaza, was closed in 1966 because of a cave in of the soil and declared unsafe. [2]

Layout and Features

Units at the Chatham Green have high floors, great views and low maintenance. They have a spacious layout, windows in every room, a lot of storage space and views that go as far as South Street to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge. [3]

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn and The Williamsburg Bridge connects the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Most recent buyers renovated their units after purchase. In 1994, a resident tore out his unit and installed a foot-square shiny black granite floor tiles in his 12 by 23 foot living room.

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Williamsburg Bridge

Floor Plans

Owen Scott, the co-op's board president, said that when apartments were traded, which was rare, they went for sums envied by the postwar co-op buildings in more conventional locations. Recently, a studio sold for $90,000 and a three-bedroom for $320,000. Besides being sought out for their architecture, the buildings are financially healthy. According to Mr. Scott, there is a $700,000 reserve fund and no underlying mortgage. The bylaws require that everyone listed as an owner on the stock certificates must live there.

1 bedroom apartment

Second 1 bedroom apartment

2 bedroom apartment

2 bedroom apartment with balcony

3 bedroom apartment with balcony

Amenities

Live-in Building Superintendent

Community Recreation Facilities

Balconies

Bylaws

Chatham Green Bylaws

Rentals

Yes

Pets

Yes

Age

No

Barbecues

Yes

This building allows pets

Rentals are allowed

There is no age restrictions

Barbecues are allowed

Sustainability

Chatham Green at 165 Park Row New York NY 10038 is a Walker's Paradise and daily errands do not require a car. It's proximity to over 60 transit options assist its tenants in minimizing their carbon footprint. [4]

Trivia

Gangs of New York

Originally Chatham Green was to be built out of steel and glass.

At the time Chatham Green was finished in 1960, “middle income” incomes ranged from $5,000 to $15,000. The apartments required an equity investment ranging from $3,980 for a studio to $7,280 for two bedrooms to $8,930 for three bedrooms with terrace, and monthly carrying charges ranging from $105 to $252 to $270 respectively.

Among early tenants were an oil company executive, a senior editor for a professional home building magazine, an attorney, a Wall Street securities analyst, and a television and electronics engineer.

Gangs of New York is a 2002 historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City where Chatham Green is now located. It was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian, and Kenneth Lonergan.[5]